Advise settings on a 200DX for aluminum?

Can anyone advise what settings to start with on my 200DX to practice on a piece of 1/8" aluminum? I grabbed a piece of flat stock to practice on, and i blew holes in it, and melted my torch nozzle, and the end of my tungsten looks like a golf ball. I have 3/32 Red tungsten, with a WP9 torch. i will start with the torch switch before trying out the pedal. I am looking to find out what settings the brothers recommend for this machine to not blow up the torch, and make a big mess out of the aluminum. I destroyed three nozzles already.
thanks

Joe,
Sounds like you might of had your AC balance turned the wrong way. Right is more AC positive (indicated by the + sign)...The further this way the more likely you are to do what you described But it might be better to tell us what settings you started with. It's easier to see where you are at, than try to take a shot in the dark. But still, here some settings to try...

Amps about 150. (max on pedal)
AC freq about 2 oclock
AC balance fully left.
Make sure torch is in right hand side.
Gas flow between 6-7lpm (our gauge)
Also you should ONLY be using pure Argon. Using a gas mix or contaminated mix can cause the exact same symptom you described.

What type of aluminum are you using? If it is anything other than 3000 series, 6000 series, or some 5000 series alloys, it can cause you grief as well.

My 200dx has a fairly harsh start if I use the torch switch, even if I purge twice before striking an arc. Mine is much smoother starting with the pedal.

You melted the nozzle? That's pretty intense. Which cup size were you using? If you're using 3/32", you can use probably a 6 or 7.

The "weak link" in your setup for aluminum is your WP9 torch. It's only rated 100 amps AC @ 60% duty cycle. (Based on: http://www.weldcraft.com/products/wp-series/wp-9/ )

Although it might be able to handle welding short stitches of 1/8" aluminum, welding very much of it at a time risks damaging your torch and/or cable.

As others have mentioned, you can take as much heat as possible off the tungsten while in AC welding mode by rotating your machine's AC Balance knob fully counter clockwise (which on the 200DX as I understand, should put you at 30% EP / 70% EN).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jakeru

The "weak link" in your setup for aluminum is your WP9 torch. It's only rated 100 amps AC @ 60% duty cycle. (Based on: http://www.weldcraft.com/products/wp-series/wp-9/ )

Although it might be able to handle welding short stitches of 1/8" aluminum, welding very much of it at a time risks damaging your torch and/or cable.

As others have mentioned, you can take as much heat as possible off the tungsten while in AC welding mode by rotating your machine's AC Balance knob fully counter clockwise (which on the 200DX as I understand, should put you at 30% EP / 70% EN).

---

The wp-9 that everlast sells is rated at 125 Amp DC, 80 Amp AC @ 60% duty cycle... http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Ev...ig-Torches.php

I'm not knocking it... just stating the specs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

Can anyone advise what settings to start with on my 200DX to practice on a piece of 1/8" aluminum? I grabbed a piece of flat stock to practice on, and i blew holes in it, and melted my torch nozzle, and the end of my tungsten looks like a golf ball. I have 3/32 Red tungsten, with a WP9 torch. i will start with the torch switch before trying out the pedal. I am looking to find out what settings the brothers recommend for this machine to not blow up the torch, and make a big mess out of the aluminum. I destroyed three nozzles already.
thanks

---

I did the same thing! I probably messed up 3 pieces of tungsten! After taking notes form Jody's video's AC balance was turned the wrong way. Welded like a champ after that! I can't remember crap, I have to take notes so I can remember everything.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zoama585

80 Amp AC

---

Indeed, thanks for adding that correction, Zoama.

great thread, just what I needed as I'm about to fire up my new 200 this week, .., ..

curtis

Yes, and to any brother who has had success with the 200DX with aluminum, could you please share your machine settings that worked for you? I am getting closer to success with the pedal, but my results are still erratic. Maybe I am not cleaning the workpiece enough.

Just about everything I weld with my 200dx is aluminum, Mostly .063 and .090. I run the balance all the way to the left and I never touch it. I usually run frequency at about the 1oclock position maybe a little further to the right if I need a really small focused bead. I normally leave my amperage knob on my pedal to where if I floor it I get around 125-140 amps and just control puddle with my foot.I always use 3/32 tungsten mostly 2% thoriated, but recently switched to 2% lanthanated with same results. Also im using a gas lens set up on my torch with a number 6 cup. What I have found is get the puddle formed very quickly and then back off the heat a bit and start the bead. I have produced some very nice looking welds with these settings.

If I can help anyway dont hesitate to ask.

JB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

I am getting closer to success with the pedal, but my results are still erratic. Maybe I am not cleaning the workpiece enough.

---

Hi Joe, Can you give us some more details on what it meant to you to get "closer to success"? Sound like you saw some good results somewhere along the line?

Also more details about what you meant by erratic? Burned thru? Cold bead? Dirty bead? Erratic arc? I suppose a picture would help but I'm sure some additional description to help us all visualize your situation would help.

I've only had a chance to run a few beads on new 1/8" 6061, weld up an aluminum snow shovel with major cracks (unknown AL alloy), fix my motorcycle sub-frame (I was happy, my welds looked better than Honda's) so far but it's all turned out nicely. I'm always on the hunt for AL things to repair for practice until I start my first fab projects.

I've cleaned everything down to shiny metal around the weld areas with one of those 3M Roloc rubber bristle disks and wiped with acetone. Until I put my CK torch on it I'm using the stock torch which is a bit large and stiff but quite workable and the pedal. 1/8" lanthanated tungsten with a sharp point. Frequency at around 2 o'clock with the balance around 8 o'clock but I'm sure I could tweak the balance to even less cleaning. Lots of pedal to start the puddle then backing down and adjusting as needed to maintain a nice puddle. The shovel repair just soaked up the heat, especially until it all got nice and hot. I'm just a hobbyist and I've been away from aluminum TIG for a couple of years but the 200 DX is working fine for me with these initial settings.

Let's hear back on the details...

Gary

Gary- i saw your reply after i answered your PM, so i will copy it here for the benefit of thread continuity.

i found out that the pedal works best, just as you said. i had to push the heat, and then back off the pedal to get it to work right. the puddle was running like water and just collapsing, so i figured it was too hot. once i get the right combination of settings dialed in, it will go smoother. i am getting closer to getting a nice bead. i ran out of scrap to play with, so tomorrow, i will go to home depot again and grab a 3 foot piece of 1/8 inch flat stock. my problem is that i wasnt cleaning it enough. i watched some more of jody's videos, and i realize i have to get a bottle of acetone also. i always had schmutz in the weld puddle, so i know i am not getting clean enough.

i was looking at the Miller 165 before i decided on the 200DX, because i liked how simple the controls were on the Miller. Just dial in the thickness, and switch AC or DC. i was hoping for my machine i could find some basic settings that i could just set to get close to ideal results. we will see.

As i mentioned about something i saw in the weldingtips... website videos was how too much heat makes it run like water and collapse. i was having to push the heat for awhile to get a puddle going, and then it would just run like liquid and the piece would crumble into itself. what makes it even harder to get repeatable settings on this machine (200DX), is the lack of divisions or markings on the pedal dial. If i find a spot that works OK, then i adjust out and it doesnt work, it is hard to find the spot i had before that worked good. It makes you wonder how many pennies the factory saved by not putting markings around the pedal knob, thereby making it more difficult to repeat settings after trying different positions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

Gary- i saw your reply after i answered your PM, so i will copy it here for the benefit of thread continuity.

i found out that the pedal works best, just as you said. i had to push the heat, and then back off the pedal to get it to work right. the puddle was running like water and just collapsing, so i figured it was too hot. once i get the right combination of settings dialed in, it will go smoother. i am getting closer to getting a nice bead. i ran out of scrap to play with, so tomorrow, i will go to home depot again and grab a 3 foot piece of 1/8 inch flat stock. my problem is that i wasnt cleaning it enough. i watched some more of jody's videos, and i realize i have to get a bottle of acetone also. i always had schmutz in the weld puddle, so i know i am not getting clean enough.

i was looking at the Miller 165 before i decided on the 200DX, because i liked how simple the controls were on the Miller. Just dial in the thickness, and switch AC or DC. i was hoping for my machine i could find some basic settings that i could just set to get close to ideal results. we will see.

As i mentioned about something i saw in the weldingtips... website videos was how too much heat makes it run like water and collapse. i was having to push the heat for awhile to get a puddle going, and then it would just run like liquid and the piece would crumble into itself. what makes it even harder to get repeatable settings on this machine (200DX), is the lack of divisions or markings on the pedal dial. If i find a spot that works OK, then i adjust out and it doesnt work, it is hard to find the spot i had before that worked good. It makes you wonder how many pennies the factory saved by not putting markings around the pedal knob, thereby making it more difficult to repeat settings after trying different positions.

---

I have noticed the same thing with the pedal vs. the torch switch. The torch switch is to "harsh" on startup on my machine. Perhaps that is why I often question why some folks on here tend to focus on using the torch switch and I see little use for it.
As for the pedal, it is fairly common to supply higher amperage for initial start and then back off as the base metal starts to get some heat in it.

If you are buying metal from Home Depot, you are probably getting 6063 aluminum. Using 4043 filler will probably be the easiest for this. 5356 filler will also work, but it tends to wet out a bit less.

You can buy material much cheaper from other sources. Even they are not "cheap" online sources such as onlinemetals.com or even mcmastercarr.com are likely a better deal. Ebay can also be a source.

If you have a local scrap yard, most will sell scrap material (which can often be first quality materials that have actually never even been used) for quite a bit less than retail pricing.

John

I'm confident that you'll get things ironed out with the help of our fine folks here on this forum. It scares me that you would even think if the diversion as an alternative to this machine, instead of this as a no-brainer upgrade, especially given the price that you got it for. Heck, you could get a water cooler, and a wp20 torch for less than the price differential between the two, and have a machine that'll literally run CIRCLES around a diversion. I can understand where simplicity has it's place, but based on your posts, you sound more like the rest of us, where once you had gotten a diversion, and hit the "performance wall" that it has at it's high end, you'd be wanting more and end up wishing for or at least wondering about Everlast anyway. Plus in addition to all the features, you have what has been touted by all that have tried and posted about it, on heck of a stick welder built in to the setup, too. I plan on posting detailed info on my 250EX and the 185 micro I have coming FROM DAY ONE, to share in the experience. Not that I expect the same from you or others. Point I'm trying to make, is that I'm pulling for you on this one, and hope that you get any trouble you have worked out to your satisfaction, and that the help you get from forum members is of use to you. You've already figured out that properly cleaning your aluminum will help with smut issues. I noticed, even as a relative nood to TIG, that the layer of oxidation on what I thought was "clean enough" made for a puddle that didn't even look like a puddle, until it dropped onto the welding table! I might suggest that you start with 50/50 AC balance, and work your cleaning action down (more DCEN) gradually, until you're all the way to 70% DCEN, for max penetration. Then adjust your pedal knob to the right position where "floored" puts you in bead-running mode for your situation. The key to this, like everything in welding, is PRACTICE! I can foresee that you'll be the envy of your friends and neighbors in no time at all, with your deft skills, wielding a TIG torch. The old saying about pictures being worth a thousand words, well in your situation, taking the time/hassle to show us what you're going through will work wonders. Keep at it, and good luck!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hooda

I'm confident that you'll get things ironed out with the help of our fine folks here on this forum. It scares me that you would even think if the diversion as an alternative to this machine, instead of this as a no-brainer upgrade, especially given the price that you got it for. Heck, you could get a water cooler, and a wp20 torch for less than the price differential between the two, and have a machine that'll literally run CIRCLES around a diversion. I can understand where simplicity has it's place, but based on your posts, you sound more like the rest of us, where once you had gotten a diversion, and hit the "performance wall" that it has at it's high end, you'd be wanting more and end up wishing for or at least wondering about Everlast anyway. Plus in addition to all the features, you have what has been touted by all that have tried and posted about it, on heck of a stick welder built in to the setup, too. I plan on posting detailed info on my 250EX and the 185 micro I have coming FROM DAY ONE, to share in the experience. Not that I expect the same from you or others. Point I'm trying to make, is that I'm pulling for you on this one, and hope that you get any trouble you have worked out to your satisfaction, and that the help you get from forum members is of use to you. You've already figured out that properly cleaning your aluminum will help with smut issues. I noticed, even as a relative nood to TIG, that the layer of oxidation on what I thought was "clean enough" made for a puddle that didn't even look like a puddle, until it dropped onto the welding table! I might suggest that you start with 50/50 AC balance, and work your cleaning action down (more DCEN) gradually, until you're all the way to 70% DCEN, for max penetration. Then adjust your pedal knob to the right position where "floored" puts you in bead-running mode for your situation. The key to this, like everything in welding, is PRACTICE! I can foresee that you'll be the envy of your friends and neighbors in no time at all, with your deft skills, wielding a TIG torch. The old saying about pictures being worth a thousand words, well in your situation, taking the time/hassle to show us what you're going through will work wonders. Keep at it, and good luck!!

---

Keep me posted on the 185. I have my eye on one of those to put in the trailer to use for those unfortunate mishaps at the track. Welder and one of those little dinky argon bottles that'll only last a half hour.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hooda

I'm confident that you'll get things ironed out with the help of our fine folks here ... (snip)

---

thanks for the encouragement and assistance. i thought about taking photos, but what i was looking at was so far from what i was supposed to be getting, that i figured that posting them would be useless. i will try to use my camera the next time i get down there to waste some more gas.

Hooda,
You might not be aware yet, but our units deal in percent of positive, not negative. On our machines, that would be 30%.

Here are a couple of shots of my latest progress. I was using the settings given in post #2, with the pedal knob as pictured (I wish there was some kind of divisions marked around the pedal knob, so i could make my best adjustment closely repeatable).

Attachment 4705Attachment 4706Attachment 4707

I didnt get a chance to pick up some acetone yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

Here are a couple of shots of my latest progress. I was using the settings given in post #2, with the pedal knob as pictured (I wish there was some kind of divisions marked around the pedal knob, so i could make my best adjustment closely repeatable).

Attachment 4705Attachment 4706Attachment 4707

I didnt get a chance to pick up some acetone yet.

---

You're way too hot on those welds. Lower your current and focus on a small area at a time, then move on. It is not a race and may take a bit of time to get teh puddle to form.

You want to use just enough heat to get a very small amount of melt then dip the rod and move teh torch to teh adjacent location and repeat. You may need to pause a bit at each "spot" to get it to flow.

From the looks of things, you will likely be better off starting with steel, first just pushing a puddle with no joint, then moving to joints. With steel, you will be able to distinctly see the puddle forming, not so much with aluminum and it will melt through as you have been experiencing.

Try not to focus so much on teh settings of the foot pedal. It is variable, nothing says you have to mash it "wide open" to weld. Set it and then just use the pedal to adjust the current as needed. That is the reason for having a pedal., otherwise, just try using the torch switch.
John

If you are going to continue to practice with aluminum, you really should get some something other than that narrow flat stock.

It looks like you are building the heat up in the material until it puddles, but since the piece is so thin and narrow, it can't dissipate and it eventually washes out and burns through. This is precisely why pulsing, or using a pulser, comes in so handy close to edges or on thinner material. It stops from building up excess heat in your workpiece. Unfortunately for you, though, all your welds are basically edge (or close to edge) welds, because of how narrow that flat stock is.

Stick with it! You'll get there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

Here are a couple of shots of my latest progress. I was using the settings given in post #2, with the pedal knob as pictured (I wish there was some kind of divisions marked around the pedal knob, so i could make my best adjustment closely repeatable).

---

Joe,

I don't have your pedal, but is'nt that knob held on to the shaft with a set screw ?

You could remove it, stick a piece of white cardboard or paper over the shaft, re-install the knob and then mark your own divisions ?

Cheers,
rivets

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rivets

Joe,

I don't have your pedal, but is'nt that knob held on to the shaft with a set screw ?

You could remove it, stick a piece of white cardboard or paper over the shaft, re-install the knob and then mark your own divisions ?

Cheers,
rivets

---

Or just use a silver sharpie which is also great for marking steel.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sportbike

You're way too hot on those welds. Lower your current and focus on a small area at a time, then move on. It is not a race and may take a bit of time to get teh puddle to form.

---

I believe part of the trouble is that i haven't cleaned the metal enough, and i couldn't get it to start to puddle without stomping on the pedal. Themn when it finally started to puddle, it just flowed away and collapsed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sportbike

From the looks of things, you will likely be better off starting with steel, first just pushing a puddle with no joint, then moving to joints. With steel, you will be able to distinctly see the puddle forming, not so much with aluminum and it will melt through as you have been experiencing.

---

I am OK with steel, i get a good puddle, and can push it along fine. I joined a few pieces of 1/4 inch stock and beat the hell out of the joint in a vise, and it would not break. It is the aluminum that gives me the problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zmechanic

If you are going to continue to practice with aluminum, you really should get some something other than that narrow flat stock.

It looks like you are building the heat up in the material until it puddles, but since the piece is so thin and narrow, it can't dissipate and it eventually washes out and burns through. This is precisely why pulsing, or using a pulser, comes in so handy close to edges or on thinner material. It stops from building up excess heat in your workpiece. Unfortunately for you, though, all your welds are basically edge (or close to edge) welds, because of how narrow that flat stock is.

Stick with it! You'll get there.

---

I have used the pulse, and that is what gave me the best results in the bottom of the middle photo above. I am glad i got a machine with pulse capability, rather than the Miller 165 i was originally looking at. It sure does make a difference. I think when i get some acetone, and get the work very clean, i might have better luck getting a puddle without all the schmutz floating on top. When i kick up the heat to burn it away, it gets out of control, and it gets destroyed.

Thanks to all for your help so far. It gets a bit discouraging, since the steel seems to be so easy, then i grab a piece of aluminum, and it is a totally different story.

After burning up a couple of nozzles, and mashing up the copper consumable parts in the torch (partly due to having the polarity reversed) shut down my practice the other day, i ordered a bunch of consumables from weldingcity on ebay. They have excellent deals and super fast shipping. I feel so ripped off after dropping about $25 last week at my local welding supply for a couple of nozzle cups and collets. I ordered about $60 worth of stuff from welding city so if i mess up my consumables, i can swap in some new ones and keep at it.

Attachment 4708


My latest practice is getting me further along to get to where I'm improving. I was using a 1/16" 2% Ceriated grey tungsten, gas lens, #4 cup
pulse freq at 1 oclock
pulse amps all the way down to 5
pulse time on at 1 oclock
A/C freq at 11 oclock
A/C balance all the way left to 30% -

Attachment 4709Attachment 4710Attachment 4711

A #4 cup is very small and you might want to consider it primarily a "specialty cup" for when you want to save gas and don't care about oxidizing things (like, if the surface will be ground away after welding is completed, or appearances are unimportant.) I don't think I'd use that for any aluminum welding. To use a #4 cup properly, you will need to make sure you are not running very much argon flow. In fact, something like 8 cfh is about ideal on a #4 cup with a gas lens. (LPM, which your flow gauge may read in, is lower than CFH.) Too much flow for a cup can induce turbulence of atmospheric air into the shielding gas coverag area (and, even a gas lens has a limit.)

I would recommend for aluminum in this size area, a #5 or #6 cup, and about 12 cfh - 15 cfh respectively for those cup sizes. (LPM is about half that.) Keep in mind when you increase cup size, the cross sectional area increases as a square of the diameter. So, a #5 cup has 56% more cross sectional area than a #4 cup, (despite its diameter being "only" 25% larger.) Too much gas flow speed out of a cup can also make the arc erratic (you may notice the arc being harder to start.)

Also, I doubt even after extensive experimentation, you will find any benefit to using pulsing on aluminum, rather than just varying your A/C frequency to narrow the arc cone width when desired. For simplicity, I would turn the pulsing off when welding aluminum. Pulsing (either low or high frequency) can be beneficial for welding steel and particular stainless steels though. But for now I would not use them. Maintaining proper torch angle and arc length are very important. I would focus on those parameters. They are very important for ANY TIG welding regardless of the machine parameters.

When running a weld bead on a small workpiece such as what you've got, limit the "arc on" time to maybe 10-30 or so seconds if possible, and allow resting time in between to allow the workpiece to cool. Otherwise it can overheat, and you will lose control of the puddle. If you see an area sink under what looks like a cellophane "skin" layer on the top, you've got a large area molten underneath the surface, and need to give the workpiece time to cool down. Also, overheating can also often give a "grainey" texture. When the workpiece is more colder (that is, there is bigger temperature difference between the molten puddle and the temperature of the metal that is let's say a half inch away from the puddle), you will need to weld with higher amps to get the same puddle size, but you will have better control over the size, direction, etc of the puddle while doing so. As the rest of the workpiece gets hotter, (perhaps unevenly) the workpiece will begin melting uncontrollably and also oxidizing (because the TIG cup is really designed to keep from oxidizing only the metal that is near the arc.)

thanks for those tips. i will get back down there later after midnight to try it out. i did have issues where the puddle was too wide, thats why i looked to a smaller cup. i thought it would keep the arc narrower. i guess that is not correct. i do notice i need a narrower arc cone to stop getting that wide puddle that i sometimes get. would the AC frequency have any effect on this issue?

I think the width of puddle problem is caused primarily by overheating such a small work piece. There are ways to narrow the arc (such as cranking up the AC frequency) but really they are just for getting that last 5-10% of the puddle control. You need to get the first 90-95% of the puddle control by getting the manual/fundamental techniques under control first. You can't make up for lack of the "basics" by adjustment of the knobs. The AC Balance knob is a really important basic setting though. I'm not sure what to advise for what AC Frequency setting someone learning should set. Perhaps just put it in the middle, as sort of a general purpose setting. My machine doesn't even allow adjustable AC frequency (it's pre-set at 60Hz.) I have experimented on other machines with AC frequencies as high as 300Hz though. It's just for getting that last 5-10% of the desired weld bead profile, IMO.

I have read that using a smaller cup limits where the arc can go, and I think there is some validity to that. For that reason, it might be beneficial to use a cup in the #5-#6 range, rather than a #8. It may be more important to use the right size tungsten. Too little current on too big a tungsten, combined with a really big cup can really make the arc wander.

Oh, and that last point brings me back to not letting the workpiece overheat. When the workpiece really heats up, you need to compensate by using less current to prevent the puddle from growing uncontrollably large. Then when you compensate for the overly hot workpiece by using too little current (perhaps, by pulling back with your footpedal without even thinking about it) for the tungsten you've got, you can lose directional control of your arc, further contributing to loss of puddle/heat control. Perhaps increasing the frequency can help a modest degree to help maintain directionality of the arc, but I would tend to really try and think about the basics. Really there is not a huge amount that 300Hz buys you over 60Hz. I've heard mark advocate using a footpedal with a torch trigger for learning, and there may be some benefit to that in that it would force the student to wait when a workpiece overheats for it to cool.

I forgot to mention something else important for a beginning to focus on: try to not let the arc get to your filler rod. Maintaining the right torch angle (not angled over too far to the side) is really important for this. You want to melt the workpiece first, and then allow that puddle to melt the filler rod (inserted into the edge of that puddle) to build the puddle up higher. You don't generally want to melt the filler rod directly with the arc. If you drip a melted filler rod onto a solid parent metal surface, that is generally bad technique. If you melt the rod with the arc you can have oxide inclusions and poor penetration under the surface... real bad stuff for weld quality on aluminum. You can get aluminum oxides to float up to the top too, but only after making a huge puddle and only when the oxide layer isn't too thick. Using proper current and recognizing the puddle in the workpiece is something to learn, and *only then* introduce the filler rod into the puddle. It's challenging, because there is a short time window where you need to add the filler rod, to keep the puddle from growing too large. But with time, you'll be able to recognize the puddle, time your filler rod additions and you'll achieve a consistent weld bead, with very strong and sound qualities (no oxide inclusions "underneath the surface".)

If you are not sure if the workpiece is clean enough to weld, try lighting a very light / low current arc (preferably low enough current so as to not melt the surface at all) over the surface where you plan to weld. If the resulting aluminum surface after being etched with the low current AC arc is completely "white to grey" in its color, (and is not "brown" or "smokey" looking), it's clean. This can be useful as a quick and easy "check for cleanliness" before welding any aluminum that you are not sure if it has things on it like oil or water (hydrocarbons, which can cause porosity in your aluminum puddle.)

I hope that is not too much to think about, try and just vary one thing at a time. There may be some value to not even adding filler rod at the very beginning. Just try and carry a uniformly sized puddle across the surface of a workpiece. Only after you can recognize the puddle immediately when it appears (it will look bright and shiney by the way when there are no oxidation on the top of it), work on introducing the filler rod.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe from NY

thanks for those tips. i will get back down there later after midnight to try it out. i did have issues where the puddle was too wide, thats why i looked to a smaller cup. i thought it would keep the arc narrower. i guess that is not correct. i do notice i need a narrower arc cone to stop getting that wide puddle that i sometimes get. would the AC frequency have any effect on this issue?

---

AC frequency will definitely have an effect on puddle width and arc width, but so will speed. You may be waiting too long.

I am wondering if it is possible that you are having a problem with puddle recognition. The aluminum puddle doesn't really change colors, and it is just a hint of shine that signals that the puddle is ready to add filler. I remember that was the hardest part for me.

Try making a cold, bird poop looking weld.
Then go somewhere in between bird poop and where you are now :-)

Great info. Thanks to all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sportbike

Try making a cold, bird poop looking weld.
Then go somewhere in between bird poop and where you are now :-)

---

Excellent advice.
I was thinking about that myself...A little too cold of a weld with aluminum while learning is easier to manage than too hot of a weld...

Thanks again for the advice, gentlemen. Here are my latest efforts. These show several passes laid on top of each other. The advice on turning off the pulse was right on. After I did that, my puddle appeared faster and was easier to control. Part of my problem was hanging around in one place too long waiting for a nice puddle to develop. Sometimes, before the puddle would appear, the surface looked like a bunch of ground up fish scales appearing out of the metal and dancing around in the arc cone. Also, I am also using my new Jackson WF60 Truesight helmet, and I am not getting flashed anymore. That is a big help. I started with a 1/16 cerciated tungsten but wound up doing the later passes with 3/32 Red tungsten with a gas lens and a #6 cup, about 8 LPM flow. One earlier issue was i only had 1/16 rods, so i twisted them double like Twizler candy and then the beads looked a bit better.

Attachment 4712Attachment 4713Attachment 4714


I am calling it quits for the night, and will get back on it Tuesday afternoon. Thanks again to all for the encouragement.

Now you are starting to get somewhere. Were those welds "as welded" or did you hit them with scotch brite after welding? If they are as welded, you may still be a little on the hot side (note the weld beads look a little sort of "hazy" or textured).

after i laid down the first few, i hit them with the stainless brush before i did the last shiny ones on the top. they have a different appearance in the photo.

I didn't make it to the supply store to get any rods today, so I will likely not report any progress tonight.